This cat belongs to a family down my road. Interestingly, they own a further ten cats that do not leave the house. This one is the only one to wander off. The owner made it clear to me that they didn’t want anything to do with this cat that they had named Sylvester. Apparently he is a menace, doesn’t get on with any of their cats etc etc. I didn’t pay much attention to the owner’s reasons. I don’t believe one should make any excuses as to why they don’t take full responsibility for the animals they take home unless one had very special circumstances. If they felt like they could not take care of this cat, then they should have re-homed him rather than leave him to fend for himself on the streets.
Now we have taken him in and he lives in the garage with the rabbits at night and during the day he is allowed to wander into the house as he pleases. We call him Cookie, I can’t quite remember why we named him that but I felt like it was appropriate to give him a new name so he can put his past behind him. And, boy, has he done that! He constantly thinks about food and Spring/Summer months were awful as I had to save all manners of rodents and birds from his evil clutches. I am aware that he eats most of what he hunts and that he gets into many fights. It is sad that he hunts so much but since he eats most of it, I cannot be angry after all that is what a cat does. Yet he seems so happy, even after being left out to fend for himself. Cookie is talkative and very engaging, and you cannot hate a cat that is so forgiving.
Coincidentally, as I was writing this post, Cookie came into the garage and at first I paid him little attention but he asked for some anyway. He came over and started rubbing me and tried his best to make friends with Summer (no luck there, Summer still thinks he is odd). I smelt something and it was different to his farts that he was having earlier during the day. So I glanced over and he was filthy. Mud and dirt was up his back legs and down his sides! On the back of his neck was a patch of pink fur which was blood from a graze that seemed to go around most of his neck. I gathered he had been on the losing end of a fight. It seemed a bit ferocious for a cat fight as whatever he was fighting had bit him around the neck. I couldn’t rule that out though but I was definitely sure it wasn’t his usual small prey.
It wasn’t serious enough to warrant a visit to the vets so mum and I gave him a light bath to clear all the dirt and to clean the cut. He was towelled dried and then left to lick himself clean in the living room. To be honest, you should not wash a cat unless you absolutely had to. He was so dirty, that even though the cut was not deep, I was afraid of infection. He absolutely hated the bath and I wish we had some kind of mat in the bathtub as he kept sliding everywhere. It was necessary though.
To clean a cat, preferably there should be two people, one to hold the cat and keep him calm and the other to do the cleaning. I prefer to do this in the bathtub with a shower head but you can clean a cat in a large sink and you can also make use of jugs to pour water if you do not have a shower head. Water should be lukewarm, you don’t want to freeze your cat but you most definitely do not want to scald their skin. If you use cat shampoo, you really need to rinse off thoroughly. Use a towel to dry them off and if your cat tolerates it, you can use a hairdryer on low setting. Do not use a hairdryer too long as you do not want to burn or to dry their skin out too much. Keep your cat indoors, in a warm room where they can lick themselves dry. Do not let them out when still soaking wet as they can become ill that way.
Originally I started this post to introduce Cookie and also to ponder about why he farts so much – also to find out why cats fart in general. However, halfway through writing, I had to give said cat a bath and that then became the topic of this post. Cat farts for another day then!
